


Carol of the Bells

by kjack89



Series: Twelve Days of Christmas Giveaway Fics [5]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arguing, Christmas Fluff, Developing Relationship, First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2013-12-30
Packaged: 2018-01-06 18:12:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1110001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kjack89/pseuds/kjack89
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Enjolras gets stuck driving with Grantaire out to Marius and Cosette's holiday party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Carol of the Bells

**Author's Note:**

  * For [takemetoyourglory](https://archiveofourown.org/users/takemetoyourglory/gifts), [kannibal (keio)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/keio/gifts).



“Please tell me you’re planning on actually leaving work at a reasonable hour,” Courfeyrac said, leaning against the doorframe of Enjolras’s office. “And please tell me you didn’t forget that Marius and Cosette’s Christmas party is tonight.”

Enjolras blinked up at Courfeyrac, a frown already furrowing his brow. “That’s today?” he asked, a little vacantly, his gaze already dropping back to the brief in front of him. “I don’t know, Courf, I’ve got a lot on my plate today. I probably won’t get out in time, and I’m sure all of you will have already left for their place by then.”

Courfeyrac smile, a little victoriously. “Nope,” he said cheerfully. “That excuse is  _not_  going to work this time. Grantaire has something he needs to get done in his studio this afternoon, and then he’s going to come over here to pick you up and drive you out there, and Cosette’s already given him permission to use bodily force if necessary to drag you out of here.” At Enjolras’s glower, Courfeyrac sighed. “Come on, Enj. It’s the holidays. Even  _you_  like Christmas. So take a break and come out tonight.” He paused for just a moment before adding in a slightly menacing tone, “Or else.”

Enjolras just sighed and bent back over his brief. If he couldn’t get out of this, he may as well get as much work done in the interim before he was forced to spend an awkward car ride with Grantaire. The thought of Grantaire almost caused Enjolras’s highlighter to slip, and his scowl deepened. Grantaire. He didn’t know how to feel about the man who was like a constant thorn in his side and had been for years now. Back at university, he had been a periphery member of the social justice club Enjolras had started, more content to mock and jeer than actually contribute.

The real shame was that Enjolras knew that Grantaire was better than that. He had a fascinating mind, and if he would just  _apply_  himself… But Grantaire had coasted through university, barely graduating with an arts degree (though to be fair, Bahorel still hadn’t graduated from law school yet, though he claimed that was voluntary). And now, apparently, he was doing something decent with his art, though Enjolras couldn’t really say what. It was enough to keep him busy for the most part, though he hadn’t found himself so busy as to not be a pain in Enjolras’s ass still, which Enjolras really shouldn’t let get to him, but instead, they spent most of their time arguing with each other.

And now it seemed they would be spending at least an hour stuck together to get out to Marius and Cosette’s, and Enjolras cursed everything from Christmas itself to Cosette and Marius for moving so far out into the suburbs to himself for not coming up with a better excuse. Well, no matter. He would suffer through. After all, what was the worst that could happen?

* * *

 

At promptly five o’clock, Grantaire poked his head into Enjolras’s office. “Are you about ready to go?” he asked.

Enjolras rubbed his eyes as he looked up, exhausted from the mass of work he had found himself trying to get through over the course of the day, and when he saw Grantaire, he sighed. “Oh. Hi. I don’t know if I can go, actually. I still really need to get through this, and—”

“That’s not going to work, Enj,” Grantaire told him, cheerfully enough, and he stepped into Enjolras’s office, setting a cup of coffee on Enjolras’s desk. “Look, I even brought you caffeine. So you really have no excuse. Now come on. Don’t make me drag you out of here, because I will.”

Even if Enjolras didn’t have much faith in most of Grantaire’s abilities, he knew full well that Grantaire was deceptive in stature and much stronger than he might first appear, and not even he had delusions of besting Grantaire if it came to that. So he sighed and carefully rearranged his papers while Grantaire whistled off-key and sipped from his own coffee.

Then, finally, Enjolras was ready, and he followed Grantaire down to the car in the building’s parking garage. He looked skeptically at the beat-up pile of junk that Grantaire had driven for as long as Enjolras had known him. “Does this thing still run?”

Grantaire shrugged and gave Enjolras a winning smile. “It’ll get us there. Don’t worry about it.” He opened the door for Enjolras and gave him a mock bow. “Your carriage awaits, Your Highness.”

Enjolras scowled at him but slipped into the front seat, already feeling a headache beginning to build in his temples, and he gritted his teeth as Grantaire started the car, which made a wheezing noise that couldn’t possibly be healthy.

He hid his frown by taking a sip of the coffee Grantaire had brought him, surprised that Grantaire had known what kind of coffee he liked. Then again, they had had coffee together often enough as a group or whenever that perhaps it shouldn’t have been that surprising.

They pulled out of the parking garage, and Enjolras looked around, startled. “When did it start snowing?” he asked, because the city was practically covered with it, and when he had come in that morning, he was fairly certain that it had been clear.

Grantaire glanced over at him, raising an eyebrow. “Um, around noon? Maybe? Didn’t you eat lunch?”

“Honestly?” Enjolras asked, smiling slightly. “I don’t remember. Which I think probably doesn’t surprise you all that much.”

Chuckling, Grantaire shook his head, his expression suddenly fond. “No, I can’t say I’m surprised at all by that. You never were one to remember meal times. But I suppose it gives Cosette an excuse to squeal over how thin you are and foist all the leftovers on you, which really means that we all benefit.”

Enjolras shot him a sideways glance. “How does everyone benefit from that?”

“Well, we have something to eat when we’re all at your place,” Grantaire said logically.

Scowling, Enjolras said accusingly, “I always knew that someone was eating my food whenever we got together at my place.”

Grantaire just shrugged. “You’re the one who’s all in favor of the redistribution of wealth, right? Consider this a preemptive strike before the government does it for you.” Enjolras just grunted and Grantaire sighed. “Could you at least pretend to have a sense of humor? It is the holidays, after all.” When Enjolras still didn’t say anything to that, Grantaire sighed again and flipped the radio on, tuning it to the station playing Christmas music.

As soon as he heard what song was playing, Enjolras’s eyes flashed and he reached out to turn the radio off. At Grantaire’s startled look, he blushed. “Sorry. I, uh, I hate that song.”

“Carol of the Bells?” Grantaire asked, incredulous. “How in the world can you hate Carol of the Bells? It’s a wonderful Christmas song.”

Enjolras’s face was bright red, and he looked away. “Well, if you must know,” he said stiffly, “when I was little I was watching  _Home Alone_  and they play that song right after the church scene, and I don’t know, it used to freak me out.” He paused and muttered, “That entire movie freaked me out.”

Grantaire threw his head back as he laughed uproariously. “ _Home Alone_ freaked you out? Oh, God, of all the movies to scare you as a child…”

Enjolras glared at him. “Well I’m so  _glad_  that my childhood trauma is so very amusing to you,” he snapped, but it was without much venom, a smile even pulling at the corners of his mouth as he shook his head. “Whatever. I’m sure that you had something that scared you as a child.”

Grantaire’s hands tightened on the steering wheel and he suddenly seemed tense. “There were a lot of things that scared me as a child,” he said softly. “They just weren’t all in movies.”

There was nothing that Enjolras could say to that, so silence fell between them, and Grantaire turned the radio back on when a sufficient amount of time had passed that Carol of the Bells would no longer be playing. Enjolras stared out the window, watching as the snow fell even faster and thicker than before.

Traffic was terrible from both the storm and rush hour, and Grantaire muttered under his breath, “Fuck this shit,” taking the next possible exit off the expressway.

Enjolras frowned. “Do you have any idea where you’re going?”

“Of course,” Grantaire said cheerfully. “Which is to say, you’re going to look it up on your fancy cellphone.”

Though Enjolras rolled his eyes, he also pulled out his phone to type Marius and Cosette’s address into Google Maps. Just when he had found a route that avoided the expressway, Grantaire’s car shuddered and drew to a sudden, noisy halt. “What did you do?” Enjolras demanded, as Grantaire frowned at the dashboard of his car.

“Hell if I know,” Grantaire shot back. “It’s got gas still. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.” He sighed and cut the engine. “You may as well call someone, ask if they can come pick us up or something. There’s no way we’re going to get a tow truck out here in this weather.”

Enjolras’s scowl deepened and he glared at Grantaire. “I knew I shouldn’t have come,” he growled. “Now I’m stuck here with you when I could be back at my office doing actual work, and—”

“Oh, shut up, would you?” Grantaire said tiredly. “I’m very sorry that you’re stuck here with me. If it makes you feel any better, I hardly want to be stuck here with you, either.”

“Why the hell not?” Enjolras shot back. “All you seem content to do with in life is annoy me, and you’re doing a great job of it right now, so I would think you’d be happy!”

Grantaire stared at him, his expression dark. “Fuck you, Enj,” he snapped, turning around to rummage through the backseat until he had found his backpack, which he dragged into his lap. “Are you calling someone to get us out of here or not?”

Enjolras just shook his head, grabbing his phone and calling Combeferre. “Hey Ferre, it’s me. Yeah, I’m with Grantaire.” He shot Grantaire a look, but Grantaire didn’t notice, digging through his backpack for something. “His car broke down, and we need someone to come get us.”

He relayed their location to Combeferre, who promised someone would be there shortly, and then hung up and turned back to Grantaire, who had triumphed in his search, pulling out his flask. “Bingo,” he said cheerfully, unscrewing the cap and taking a swig. Seeing Enjolras staring at him, he offered him the flask. “Would you like some?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Enjolras all but snarled. “Put that thing away! Were you drinking before driving?”

Grantaire’s smile slid off his face and he glared at Enjolras. “Fuck you. Again. I’m not a fucking moron. I wouldn’t do that you, you stupid  _fucking_ —”

Enjolras cut him off. “Well, I’m sorry, but you’re not exactly known for making the best life decisions regarding yourself.”

Grantaire just stared at him. “Regardless of my own life decisions, do you seriously think that I would ever put  _you_  in any kind of danger like that?”

Now Enjolras stared at Grantaire blankly. “What in the hell does that have to do with anything?”

Rolling his eyes, Grantaire took another swig from his flask. “Just forget it,” he muttered.

“No, I’m not going to forget it!” Enjolras snapped, frustrated. “You always do this! Every time we try to talk about something serious, you…you equivocate and you change the subject or you make some stupid joke! Why can’t you be serious for once in your life?”

“What, serious like you?” Grantaire shot back. “So serious that I bury myself in my work and never let myself have any kind of fun? So serious that I’ve forgotten what it even means to have friends? So serious that I probably haven’t been laid in years, if ever?”

Enjolras’s face was red as he glared at Grantaire. “What would my other option be? To be like  _you_? To not care about a damn thing? To waste my entire life doing nothing worthwhile? To be a joke? Is that what you want from me?”

Grantaire seemed to deflate, and he shook his head a little sadly. “There are different kinds of caring,” he said softly. “And some of them, I swear to God, you wouldn’t recognize if they bit you in the ass.”

“Whatever,” Enjolras snapped, wrenching the car door open. “I’m not just going to sit here and listen to  _you_  lecture  _me_. As if you have anything worthwhile to say on the subject. As if you have anything worthwhile to say  _ever_!”

Grantaire opened his own door, shouting at Enjolras as he walked away, “Enjolras, get the fuck back here!” Enjolras just squared his shoulders and ignored him, though he wasn’t exactly surprised when Grantaire had caught up with him, red-faced and out of breath from running. “You stupid idiot, do you want to freeze to death?” Grantaire snapped. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Getting away from you!” Enjolras snapped, though he realized how petulant that sounded. “This whole thing is just… _stupid_ , ok? So leave me alone.”

Shaking his head, Grantaire grabbed Enjolras’s arm. “I’m not leaving you alone, you asshole. It’s freezing and it’s snowing and you left your phone in my car, so you don’t even know where the hell you are. Now come back to the car with me.”

Enjolras pulled his arm out of Grantaire’s grip and shoved him away. “I know where I am,” he said, even though, really, he didn’t.

Grantaire glared at him and shoved him right back. “Like hell you do. You wouldn’t be able to find your way around your apartment building without your phone.”

“That’s not true!” Enjolras snapped, grabbing the front of Grantaire’s coat. He was about to continue when he stepped backwards and lost his balance, pulling Grantaire down with him as they tumbled down an embankment, tumbling over and over through the snow until they landed in a heap at the bottom, Grantaire landing on top of Enjolras, their faces only inches apart.

For a long moment, they both just stared at each other. Then Enjolras cleared his throat and said in a dazed sort of voice, “Mistletoe.”

Grantaire looked at him as if he might have hit his head. “I beg your pardon?” he said, not moving from his position on top of Enjolras.

Enjolras rolled his eyes and shoved Grantaire off of him, pointing upwards. “We’ve landed in the middle of a stupid Christmas tree shop and there’s mistletoe hanging right above us.” He brushed the snow off of his chest and arms. “Now come on. We need to get back to the car.”

He made as if to stand up when Grantaire growled, “Oh no you don’t,” grabbing him around the waist and pulling him back down to kiss him.

The kiss lasted only a few moments, but it was enough to leave Enjolras spluttering incoherently at Grantaire, who just smiled grimly. “It’s mistletoe, you idiot. You have to kiss under it, even if you don’t like it.”

Enjolras blinked slowly, still trying to process what had happened, and muttered, “Well, good, because I didn’t like it.”

“Well, I didn’t like it either,” Grantaire snapped, standing up and brushing the snow off of himself. “I should have just left out here in the snow to freeze to death, you stupid fucking—”

It was Enjolras’s turn to reach up, grab Grantaire, and pull him back down to the snow to kiss him. And it was Grantaire’s turn, once that had broken apart, to splutter, “What was that for?”

Enjolras snapped, “I just wanted to shut you up for twenty seconds.”

Grantaire looked at Enjolras as if he had never quite seen him before, and in an almost breathless voice, said, “Well in that case, I’ll shut you up for twenty seconds, too.”

He kissed Enjolras again, and Enjolras kissed him back. They didn’t break apart this time, kissing each other almost hungrily, rolling around in the snow and both wondering if it was warm enough out that they could shuck their heavy coats if only to get a little more friction between the two of them.

There was no telling how long they might have stayed like that, wrapped around each other in a pile of snow, were it not for Combeferre’s sudden appearance at the top of the embankment, staring down at them with a look of pure amusement on his face.

* * *

 

Despite everything, Enjolras and Grantaire made it to Marius and Cosette’s in one piece, sitting in silence in the back of Combeferre’s car, neither one really looking at each for the rest of the drive, neither really knowing what exactly to say to the other.

When they arrived, they were swept up in the festivities, laughing and joking with everyone else and generally avoiding each other.

Finally, however, Grantaire was by himself in doorway to the living room, checking something on his phone, and Enjolras decided now was as good a time as any to break the ice. He brought him some hot chocolate. “Here,” he said, a little gruffly, passing the mug over. “Just for you, I spiked it with whiskey.”

Grantaire instantly brightened. “My hero!” he said, with that crooked smile that always seemed to make Enjolras smile as well.

He cleared his throat and looked down, hoping that he wasn’t blushing. “Look, I just…I wanted to apologize about earlier. I said some things and…I didn’t mean them. Not really. I know that you care, a lot more than you sometimes let on, but still.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Grantaire said, after taking a swig of hot chocolate. “I also said some things I didn’t mean…I  _do_  know how important your work is, and I wouldn’t ask you to give that up, I promise. I just…sometimes you forget to take care of yourself, and, well, we worry.” He paused before adding in a quieter voice, “ _I_  worry.”

Enjolras blinked at him, a small, stupid smile growing across his face, and he ducked his head, blushing. “I also wanted to apologize for something else.”

Grantaire frowned slightly. “What else could you possibly have to apologize for?” he asked, a little wryly.

“I lied earlier.” At Grantaire’s raised eyebrow, Enjolras blushed scarlet and elaborated, “When I said that I didn’t like it when you…when you kissed me. I lied. Because I did.”

Grantaire stared at him a little blankly, and then a huge grin broke out on his face. “Oh. Well. Good. Because I am going to have to do it all over again.” He pointed above them and said simply, “Mistletoe”, before leaning in and kissing Enjolras again.

When they broke apart a few moments later, Enjolras asked, a little accusingly, “Were you waiting under the mistletoe on purpose just so you could do that again?”

Rolling his eyes, Grantaire snapped, “By that logic, I could accuse you of rolling us down the hill and under the mistletoe on purpose earlier.”

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Enjolras told him, frowning. “Besides, it wasn’t even my fault that we fell down. It was your fault and your  _car’s_  fault that we were even there in the first place, and if you hadn’t come after me, none of that would’ve happened.”

“If I hadn’t come  _after_  you—” Grantaire started, his voice heated, but then he bit off his words, shook his head, and kissed Enjolras instead.

Enjolras kissed him back for a few moments, and then pulled away just far enough to ask, “What was that for?”

Grantaire laughed slightly and rested his forehead against Enjolras’s. “Well, I came to the realization that if we’re making out, we can’t really be fighting, now can we?”

Enjolras considered this for a few seconds, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Good point,” he said, and kissed Grantaire again.


End file.
